Keep it together or fall apart
by AERodos
Summary: Alternative for season 8 episode Spider and the fly. The Rivera siblings want revenge and capture Gibbs again but this time they also take someone from his beloved team for leverage. Changes after Sinor Rivera threatens Abby.
1. Chapter 1

Alternative for season 8 episode Spider and the fly. The Rivera siblings want revenge and capture Gibbs again but this time they also take someone from his beloved team for leverage. Changes after Sinor Rivera threatens Abby.

This is my first ever story. Besides that, I'm not English so I apologize in advance for any mistakes.

I hope it's any good and I'd really appreciate reviews and tips.

This probably won't be a really long story and I think I'll finish it this week. I will finish it and I'll upload as soon as possible.

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><p>He could feel her presence as soon as she walked into the bullpen and immediately tensed up. Not long after he could see Alejandro's mouth twist into an even bigger smile as he too noticed Abby walking towards the group.<p>

"Sinor Rivera" he heard Abby say.

Having her this close to the man that wanted him dead kicked Gibbs' protectiveness into overdrive. He didn't hear much of their conversation, choosing instead to focus on Rivera's every move. He'd have missed Rivera's threat if he hadn't shown such a change in body language when he made it.

Gibbs could no longer stay back. No one threatened his team! He strode forward and positioned himself between Alejandro and Abby. "You want to threaten someone? You threaten me! NOT the people I work with."

The tension in the room rose and he could see his team subconsciously moving towards Rivera, ready to help him if needed. Gibbs stared him down when Rivera spoke to Vance about how 'hot headed' his team can be. After Vance warned him that he'd hurt him himself if he didn't leave quietly Gibbs stayed tense, even after the lift doors had closed. It was quiet for about a minute until Gibbs and Vance shared a look and Vance took off towards his office.

Gibbs finally relaxed his shoulders and looked back at Abby. She looked as tense as he felt and he could read the apprehension in her face. Stepping forward he enveloped her in a hug and just let himself breathe in her familiar smell. After a short while he slowly let go of her, giving her a kiss on the cheek in the process. He turned around and looked at his team "Find out where his sister is staying."

It was dark by the time Gibbs and Abby walked towards Gibbs' car, arm in arm. Abby was rattling on about how she wished none of this had happened, Gibbs knew this was her was handling stressful situations but also knew to calm her down before she'd get herself too worked up.

He grabbed her hand "I'm not going to let anything happen to you".

He returned the small smile she gave him and squeezed her hand. By now they'd reached his car, Abby kissed his cheek "Goodnight Gibbs". He grabbed her hand before she could move away from him "you're staying with me tonight, Abbs". She looked at him gratefully and went around the side of the car and got into the passenger seat.

She was quiet when Gibbs started the car and they exited the parking lot. Gibbs, usually a man who enjoyed peace and quiet, missed her babbling, for he knew it was in her nature and something she did when she felt both good and bad. Her silence proved to him how affected she was, not only by today's events, but the events of the last couple of weeks. He was glad he'd gotten her to come home, he'd sleep better knowing she was near and it would make it easier for him to help her relax when she was at his house.

There was a companionable silence in the car as they were both tired after a long day at work and thinking about all that has happened. They were about halfway towards Gibbs' house, driving along a dark, deserted road when a car came towards them and Abby sensed Gibbs tensing up beside her.

"Gibbs?" She could see the tension in his face as he concentrated on the road.

She looked back at the car approaching them but didn't understand what had made him tense up. She looked in the side mirror when she saw headlights coming up behind them, a black SUV was behind them, speeding up. She felt a rush of fear as she realized what was going to happen. She quickly looked back at Gibbs who was still concentrating on the road.

Just as the SUV behind them bumped into their car she realized that they had nowhere to go as the car coming towards them from the front blocked the other side of the road. Gibbs too had realized this, he quickly looked at Abby and felt a surge of fear for her which became even worse when he saw the terror in her eyes. "Abbs! Hold on!"

The SUV crashed into them again from behind at the same moment as the car in front of them nicked the front left side of Gibbs' car. This made the car veer of to the right, they could both see the trees on the side of the road quickly approaching just before the car crashed into them with an almighty bang. Then all went black.


	2. Chapter 2

Gibbs groaned and slowly lifted his head of the steering wheel, he could almost still hear the crash happening with the buzzing in his ears. _Abby!_ _He'd been in a crash with Abby!_ His eyes flew open and he looked to his right, it was dark in the car but he could see shards of glass from the windows everywhere. It took him a couple of seconds to discern Abby's shape from the airbag.

"Abby!" he croaked, his voice hoarse. "Abby talk to me!"

Silence. "That's too bad"

Gibbs' head swiveled around towards the unknown voice. He regretted the action immediately as it made his vision swim and his head feel like it was about to explode. His vision cleared just in time to see a fist coming towards his face before it smashed into him and he lost consciousness again.

The next time he woke up he lay still for several minutes, trying to breathe through the pain that slowly made itself known. It was only through years of experience that he managed to keep completely still at the same time and not give any outward signs of having woken up. He kept his breathing even as he tried to remember what happened.

He felt something wet on his face and suddenly remembered. _Abby!_ When the memories of what happened hit him he couldn't stop his breathing from speeding up slightly. Worry washed over him and made his stomach clench tight in fear. The one thing he wanted to do at that moment was open his eyes and find her but he forced himself to stay still and listen first.

He listened for several moments but the only thing he could hear were slow drops falling on a hard surface somewhere nearby. He slowly opened his eyes and blinked until he could see clearly. The first thing he saw was a concrete floor of what he soon discovered to be a basement. The only light was from a single bulb dangling from the ceiling in the middle of the room.

He quickly scanned the room and felt his stomach drop when he couldn't see Abby anywhere. He had to get up to get a better look around the room but knew for sure he wouldn't find her here, he'd have felt her presence if she'd have been in the room.

He tried to roll on his side to get up but as soon as he tried to move from his position on his back he felt a sharp pain go through his body. The feeling that came after the first waves of pain was anger, he didn't have time to be injured, he needed to find Abby!

With annoyance he noted that he'd bruised several ribs on his left side and when he tried to get on his feet his head felt like it was about to burst and he almost fell when his right knee gave way. He only just managed to grab onto the wall and stay upright. Slowly he tried to shift some weight on his right leg again and was relieved to find it hurt like hell but he could put some weight on it.

He looked around the room again and only saw two chairs on one side, some sacks with potatoes in a corner and some blankets in another. There was only one door, on the other side of the basement. _Enough exploring, time to find Abby_, he couldn't remember seeing her after the crash clearly which is what bothered him the most about his painful head. The memory was a blur and it worried him that he didn't have any idea about her condition after the crash.

He looked down at his watch which was mercifully still intact. It was 6 o'clock and he knew it was the morning after the crash. They'd left the yard at around 8 last night so that meant he'd been out for about 9,5 hours. Anything could've happened to Abby during that time.

He slowly made his way over to the door to examine it. It was a thick wooden door with relatively new hinges and bolts. He knew he wasn't going to be able to get through that without a key. Quickly examining his options his anxiety grew the longer he was in the dark about Abby's location and condition.

Gibbs wasn't known for his patience and soon decided he'd just have to get someone to come to him for information. "Hey! Get down here!" he said, slamming his fist against the door. He quickly stepped back to avoid getting hit by the door when he heard footsteps coming down the stairs towards him.

Soon the door smashed open and before he could blink a fist came at him to hit him in the face again. He ducked in time and smashed his own fist into his attackers' stomach. But before he could move again he felt the barrel of a gun against the back of his head and the telltale sound of the safety being taken of.

The guy before him straightened up, after having doubled over from Gibbs' blow, and all but growled at Gibbs. _Shit!_ He needed to stay conscious and get them to talk to find out where Abby is, he couldn't risk them knocking him out again. The tension rose as the room stayed quiet, the guy whom he'd hit kept looking at Gibbs with a murderous expression on his face. Gibbs looked back at him calmly, trying not to show his nervousness. He wondered how he could've missed a second pair of footsteps coming down the stairs. _Need to pay better attention_, he thought to himself.

He studied the guy before him, he was about Gibbs' size, toned and had a mean right hook from what Gibbs had seen. Finally the person behind him spoke up.

"You're lucky we need you alive, otherwise I'd have no reservations about pulling this trigger".

_Another unfamiliar voice, who are these people?_ "Where's Abby?" Gibbs tried to keep his voice calm as to not show any emotion or anger his captors any further.

"The one with the cute little outfit and pigtails?" It wasn't a question.

"She's even hotter when she cries, black mascara running down her face, have you noticed that?"

Gibbs clenched his fists, forcing himself to stay still. _They have Abby, stay still marine! _It took a couple of seconds before he dared to speak, needing the time to reign in his emotions. "I want to see her"

Immediately he felt a sharp pain in the back of his head as the butt of the gun was smashed against it and the pain caused him to fall to his knees. Holding on to his head with both hands he slowly breathed through the pain and waited for the black spots to clear from his vision.

"You are not in a position to make demands, Agent Gibbs" the guy in front of him said.

"Who are you?"

"Ah, now that's more like it. Sinor Rivera asked us to 'look after' you and your gorgeous goth friend."

Of course, he should've known. It couldn't have been a coincidence that Rivera threatened Abby just before the two of them were taken captive. "And what happens now?"

Gibbs wanted information, he needed to find Abby and find a way out. It would take another 2 hours before the team would notice that he and Abby are missing and he'd need to take care of them both until they could find them.

"Sinor Rivera wants revenge, but he'll let us have our fun before he comes to get it."

_Yeah, he really needed to get them out_, Gibbs thought.


	3. Chapter 3

_"Sinor Rivera wants revenge, but he'll let us have our fun before he comes to get it." Yeah, he really needed to get them out, Gibbs thought. _

Lowering his hand from his head, Gibbs slowly started to get back up. As soon as he managed to get on his two feet he received a kick to the back of his legs, with a grunt Gibbs fell back on his knees again and tried not to cry out as pain shot through his injured knee.

Before he managed to breathe through the pain a hard kick to his stomach forced all the air out of his lungs and made him double over in pain. He held his left hand to his chest and swung out his right towards the feet in front of him, it was enough to make the guy stumble and he took his chance to turn around while swinging out his leg to tackle the guy behind him.

He managed to kick his feet out from underneath him but before he could move any further he received a hard kick to his side which made him fall over. Gibbs wrapped his arms around himself, trying to protect his bruised ribs as a myriad of kicks rained down on him. A particularly forceful kick to his back made him arch his back and expose his chest which was enough for his captors to get in another firm kick to his ribs. The kick to his ribs was enough to make him cry out in pain.

Gibbs tried to focus on curling in on himself and thought of Abby. He just hoped that the fact that they were beating him up meant that she was safe, at least for the time being. Finally a kick to the back of his head made to world go black.

When he came to again he was sitting on a chair with his hands tied behind his back and feet tied to the legs of the chair. He looked around the basement and noticed he was alone again. He wriggled in his bonds to test their strength, they wouldn't budge. The position of his arms stretched his chest and ribs painfully and made it slightly hard to breathe.

There was a throbbing pain in his head and in his knee. When he looked down he could see his pants leg tighten around his knee because of how much it'd swollen. He had no idea how much time had passed since he'd last been awake as he couldn't look at his watch.

He thought about Abby again. How was she? Had they hurt her? The already familiar fear made his stomach clench. He would do anything for any member of his team but as his team often said, Abby was his 'favorite'. Although he told himself he didn't pick favorites he did have a definite soft spot for the ever bubbly scientist. But aside from that, she isn't an agent, she wasn't trained for situations like these. She didn't sign up for this and that thought made him feel even more protective towards her. He feared that if it did come to torture, which he was pretty certain it would, she wouldn't be able to hold out for long.

He was pulled out of his thoughts by footsteps coming down the stairs. Something was off, he concentrated hard on the sound and could discern three different pairs of footsteps. Two of them were very uneven, they sounded like two people struggling. His hart started beating faster in his chest as the possibility of it being Abby made him nervous. Suddenly a voice, which he recognized as one of his captors screamed "Stop it!" followed by a cry of pain which, with a jolt of fear, he recognized as Abby's and the footsteps stopped. He held his breath as he listened for any noise. The footsteps continued towards the door and it slammed open.

First through the door was the guy he'd punched in the stomach earlier when he stepped through the door he could finally see Abby. There was a smaller guy behind her, he must be the guy who was holding the gun to his head before. He was pushing her forward with a gun at her back and a fistful of her hair in his other hand. Gibbs' breath got stuck in his throat when he saw her. Her hair had come loose, she was only wearing one pigtail and dried blood covered the side of her face and part of her hair. She had her hands tied behind her back and was limping slightly.

He thought it'd be a relief to see her but the look in their captors eyes told him that having them in the same room couldn't mean anything good. Gibbs felt fear and anger as well as a fierce protectiveness well up in him at the sight of her. While Gibbs was cataloging her injuries she'd been looking down and struggling slightly against her captors grip.

Their captors stopped a couple of feet from Gibbs and Abby finally looked up at him. Gibbs could clearly see the fear, pain and nervousness in her eyes. Time seemed to slow down as they looked at each other. Gibbs tried to calm her by schooling his own face with a calm expression. She seemed to understand what he was doing and he was proud to see some of the tension disappear from her face.

All of a sudden time seemed to speed up again as Abby's head was yanked back by her hair.

"Time for round one" the guy holding her whispered in her ear.

Gibbs heard him though and could see the fear returning in Abby's eyes. He struggled with his bonds, ignoring the pain as it chaffed his wrists.

"You don't need her, Alejandro want's revenge on me!"

"But it's so much better now we've got two of you to entertain ourselves with" the big guy now standing directly in front of Gibbs said.

Gibbs tried to keep his breathing under control, he'd be no good to Abby if he lost his cool this quickly.

"You must understand Gibbs, there's so much more pleasure to be had from a women, especially one like this one here" the smaller guy holding Abby said.

_Forget about keeping my cool!_ Gibbs growled, tugging at his bonds, feeling the skin on his wrists become more and more chaffed. The pain barely registered in his mind as the guy holding Abby started breathing down her ear as the hand with the gun stroked down her throat. Abby went completely rigid, terror in her eyes.

Gibbs' low voice said in a deadly tone "Get your hands off of her, I will not hesitate to kill you either".

No person in their right mind would go against Gibbs. Their captors however, only started laughing. The smaller guy released her hair and stepped back. At the same time the bigger guy stepped towards Abby and backhanded her hard across the face. The smack reverberated around the basement as Abby fell to the floor. With her hands tied behind her back there was no way for her to break her fall. She managed to turn so she fell on her side. She gave a high squeak as she landed and Gibbs could tell she'd hurt her shoulder. He lost his cool.

"Get away from her!" he bellowed as he saw them approach her where she lay on the floor.

She tried to scramble to her feet but before she could get anywhere the big guy gave her a swift kick to the stomach. Her cry of pain tore through Gibbs and he tried to focus on loosening his bonds while he kept his eyes on her. The big guy grabbed her neck and pulled her up, not giving her any time to get back her breath after the kick to her stomach. She quickly got her feet under her but there was nothing else she could do with her hands tied back.

Gibbs could see her struggling for breath, gasping as it became harder and harder with the lack of oxygen. His gut clenched in fear. Pure fear. Finally after what felt to him like hours the guy let her go and she dropped to the floor, heaving in deep breaths.

"Abby!" He wanted her to look at him, needed to see her eyes.

She didn't seem to hear him as her heaving breaths turned into a coughing fit. Gibbs barely registered their captors leaving the room as he concentrated fully on her.

"Abby you need to breathe! Deep breaths, Abbs".

Now she seemed to hear him and the coughing subsided. Slowly she turned her head to look up at him and tried to match his breathing. Slowly her breaths turned back to normal but Gibbs could see the angry red lines on her neck where that bastard's hands had been.


	4. Chapter 4

_Slowly her breaths turned back to normal but Gibbs could see the angry red lines on her neck where that bastard's hands had been._

"Abbs, are you okay?"

Aside from the obvious injuries she'd just sustained he had no idea what happened to her since before the crash. Now he had time to study her face carefully he could see the myriad of cuts across her face. There had to be a bigger cut on the side of her head to account for all the blood in her hair.

"Gibbs" her soft voice croaked, she coughed a couple of times before she tried again.

"Gibbs", saying his name with a little more strength now.

Gibbs looked at her with a grimace on his face, he knows how hard it must be for her to talk after being strangled. Abby understood he needed to know what had happened to her and gathered her thoughts.

"I woke up in a room upstairs after the crash, when I woke up I was alone". He gave her an encouraging nod to tell her to continue.

"I was so worried about you Gibbs! I was alone and I had no idea whether or not you were even alive!"

Her voice slowly became stronger and he could hear the panic as she remembered.

"You're not alone anymore Abbs, I'm here now". She nodded and looked at him, but stayed quiet.

"What happened after you woke up Abbs, did they hurt you?" He tried to talk to her soothingly but he could see in hes face that his tone had become angry at the end of his sentence.

"No, they came in the room to check up on me once but didn't say or do anything else. I think I strained my ankle in the crash and my head hurts Gibbs".

He could hear the slight tremble in her voice as she told him she was injured. He knew she was trying to process all that had happened and the reality of the situation was starting to sink in. He softly shushed her "It'll be okay Abbs". She looked at him with tear filled eyes.

"Do you think you could get your hands in front of you and get up?" She nodded and slowly, concentrating fully on her movements, bent over to get her hands under her legs and to her front. He could see and hear her sniff softly as she slowly got to her feet.

"Good job Abbs! Now get to my back and see if you can loosen the bonds on my hands." She hobbled over and stopped in front of him.

Looking at his face and biting her lip she slowly pushed some strands of hair from his forehead. His hair had been plastered to his face with dried blood and she could now see the relatively shallow cut high on his forehead that had caused it. The action made him relax slightly, with the contact he finally let out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding as he let the reality of finally knowing he had her close sink in.

With one last look at his face Abby moved to his back and he could hear her gasp. He tensed for a moment before he realized she must've seen his hands. He was pretty sure that they'd be covered with blood by now from his yanking at the bonds. He felt her soft hands struggling with the knots and after a couple of minutes they both let out a sigh of relief when the bonds fell away.

Gibbs flexed his fingers as he felt the blood rushing back into them. He turned to Abby and crooked his finger at her. She moved her still bound hands towards him so he could start on her bonds. It physically hurt him to see the raw skin on her wrists. _She shouldn't even be in this situation. This was all because of him._ Her continued silence worried him and he looked back up at her face as the bonds fell away. She didn't look at him and instead crouched down to take the bonds of his ankles.

As soon as he was loose he stood up and took her in his arms. She clung to him as she started to sob. He felt her shaking in his arms and shushed her as he slowly rocked them. Breathing in her scent he finally felt himself relax.

When her sobs finally started to subside he pulled away and wiped his bloody hands on his jeans. Then he slowly let his hands travel over her face, inspecting all the cuts, making sure there were no pieces of glass left in them. Her eyes stared at his face, they looked clearer than they did before but he noticed she was starting to get sleepy, the stress of the day getting to her. When he finally got to the still slightly bleeding cut on the side of her head she took in a sharp breath.

After he had a good look at her wound and decided it would stop bleeding soon he carefully took out her remaining pigtail. She slowly and carefully raked her fingers through her hair to try and untangle it, hissing every now and again when her hair pulled at her cuts.

Gibbs let his thoughts wonder to their current situation. He was grateful for the time alone they'd had and hoped they'd leave them for a couple more hours so Abby could have some rest and he could think up a plan. He looked at his watch and was disappointed to see it was broken. Now they had no way to tell what time it was and how long they'd been there for. He had no doubt that by now his team would have noticed they were missing and would be looking for them. They just had to hold out until they could find them.

Seeing Abby trying to stifle a yawn he decided it was time for her to rest. He put a hand at the small of her back and slowly guided her towards the far corner of the room. She limped slightly and he found it increasingly hard to put any weight on his right leg. He could still feel the throbbing in his knee and could feel the heat radiation of it. Abby looked at him and for the first time noticed his swollen knee.

"Gibbs!" she gasped and quickly put his arm over her shoulder so he could lean some of his weight on her. The action jarred his ribs but he tried not to show any outward signs of pain. They made it over to the far corner where the blankets lay and Abby bent down to lay them out and put some rolled up against the wall so they could sit against it.

She helped Gibbs lower down towards the floor and sat down beside him. He lifted his right arm and she curled herself into the familiar position at his side. After a moment of silence she looked up at him, "What's going to happen to us Gibbs?" His heart broke at her question and he answered her honestly.

"I don't know Abbs" Kissing the top of her head as she closed her eyes and her breathing evened out. He whispered again "I just don't know Abbs".


	5. Chapter 5

_"What's going to happen to us Gibbs?" His heart broke at her question and he answered her honestly._

_ "I don't know Abbs" Kissing the top of her head as she closed her eyes and her breathing evened out. He whispered again "I just don't know Abbs"._

A hundred different thoughts were running through his head, every once in a while they would be disturbed when he heard a noise upstairs. He tried not to tense up whenever he did, as he did not want to disturb Abby. If their captors were going to follow up on their threats she'd need all the rest she could get. At that thought he couldn't help but tighten his grip on her.

Abby was the last person he'd ever want with him in a situation like this. She was like a daughter to him and gave him the overwhelming urge to do anything to protect her. He would gladly give himself up if it meant she would be safe but he knew their captors wouldn't fall for that. The Rivera's might want to have revenge on him but the best way to get to him was through his family. He cursed himself for showing Alejandro this in the bullpen by defending Abby.

He looked down at her again as she slept and studied her face, memorizing every cut and scratch. The deeper cut on her head had stopped bleeding some time ago and he could see the blood crusting around it as he carefully parted her hair to have a better look. He relaxed his hold on her a bit as he continually brushed his hand over her head and hair, seeing how her features relaxed when he did this. She snuggled a bit closer to him but otherwise stayed still. _I have to take care of her, whatever it takes_, he thought.

When Abby finally opened her eyes a couple of hours later they were mercifully still alone. She immediately knew where she was and what had happened, but she felt surprisingly safe and warm. She looked up at Gibbs and found him looking down at her with a soft smile on his lips.

"Morning" she mumbled, voice raspy. "Morning Abbs, sleep well?"

She nodded, "Always sleep well when I'm with you".

He lifted one eyebrow at her "You make me feel safe Gibbs".

His heart clenched, he knew she felt safe with him but hearing it said out loud felt good anyway. However, fear swept into him at the thought that it might not stay like that much longer if things went downhill for them in this godforsaken basement. If she lost her faith in him or if she'd no longer feel safe with him, he didn't even want to think of the possibility because it would mean he'd have failed as a leader and friend. He wanted to represent safety to all of his team, Tony, McGee, Ziva and especially Abby.

His thoughts must have shown on his face because Abby frowned and put her hand on his chest "Gibbs?" He stiffened the moment her hand came in contact with the left side of his chest. Her expression turned to one of concern as she pulled back from him and grabbed a hold of his polo and undershirt. She didn't give him time to stop her as she quickly pulled them out of his pants and up to expose his chest. Her loud gasp and look of horror confirmed his suspicion that his chest was black and blue.

"Oh Gibbs! What happened? You should've told me your chest hurt! You probably have some bruised ribs! They could even be broken!"

She quickly but softly ran her hands over his ribs, trying to feel for any broken ones. "They're just bruised or cracked Abbs, I'd have known if they were broken".

"You still should've told me Gibbs!" she got up and grabbed one of the thin blankets and ripped it in long strips.

Walking back to him she said "We should've wrapped them up before I went to sleep Gibbs! You must've been in a lot of pain" she finished quietly.

She looked down at him as he looked back up at her "I didn't want to worry you Abbs. Besides, I've had much worse".

She furrowed her brow and knelt down before him, helping him move forward, away from the wall. She carefully helped him out of his jacket and then pulled first his polo and then his undershirt up and over his head. Gibbs clenched his teeth against the pain, he didn't want to give Abby any more reason to worry.

Both of them looked down at his chest, Abby with worry and Gibbs with annoyance. His chest was bruised so badly that it wouldn't be hard for them to do him some serious internal damage if they gave him another beating. He wouldn't be much help to Abby if they did. Abby discovered his back was as bad, if not worse than his chest. She wrapped up his chest with the strips of the blankets as best she could. Trying to support his ribcage by giving it support but at the same time not wanting to hurt him by wrapping it too tight.

When his upper body was completely wrapped and the wrapping was secure she helped him back into his undershirt and polo before putting his jacket back on. They both tensed up when there was a noise upstairs. Gibbs looked at Abby with urgency in his eyes.

"Abbs, I need you to listen to me. I need you to stay behind me and follow my lead. Keep yourself safe!"

She looked at him with terror in her eyes when the sound of footsteps descending the stairs reached their ears. She shook her head no and he grabbed her shoulders.

"Promise me Abbs! You've got to keep quiet and stay back!"

Tears formed in her eyes and he could feel her start to tremble under his hands. He was angry at himself for scaring her even more but there was no more time. When he saw her nod he quickly planted a kiss on her forehead before pulling himself up, using the wall for support and moving in front of her as the door flew open.

The smaller guy from before walked in followed by a big guy they hadn't seen before. He was quite a bit taller than Gibbs and looked like he must be on steroids.

"Time for a toilet break, you first" the smaller guy said, pointing at Abby.

"She's not going anywhere without me!" Gibbs said in a low growl.

"It wasn't a suggestion." With that the big guy moved forward and went to knock Gibbs out of the way. Gibbs anticipated the move and ducked to the side, swinging his fist into the guys side. He grunted and retaliated by smashing his elbow into the side of Gibbs' head. He stumbled sideways, holding his head again with two hands and crumpled to the ground as his right leg gave out.

He could hear Abby cry out his name and looked up, blinking to try and clear his vision as he, again, saw black spots. By the time the spots disappeared he could see the big guy dragging Abby out by her arm. When she looked back at him there were silent tears streaming down her face. _Failed her again!_ He cursed himself for being too slow. _I'm getting to old for this kind of stuff. _

He grew more and more anxious with each passing minute. Finally he heard footsteps on the stairs again and when the door opened he let out a sigh of relief when Abby looked no different than when they took her away. The big guy holding her arm didn't let her go when they stopped halfway into the basement. When he kept a hold of her arm and didn't say anything else Gibbs got the message. To keep him in check one of them was going to stay with Abby, the quiet threat was as clear as day.

He hesitated, looking at Abby, who looked at him with fearful and questioning eyes. When he didn't move from his position near the wall the grip on Abby's arm tightened until she let out a hiss of pain. Gibbs knew he had no choice and moved towards the door. Shooting Abby a reassuring look before he disappeared through it. His stomach clenched as he heard the door close behind him and moved further away from her with every painful step he took. He made slow progress and by the time he arrived at the toilet, the smaller guy still walking behind him, he was struggling with every breath.

When he was in the toilet he quickly ran through the information of everything he'd seen of the house. The door to the basement was under the stairs and the toilet was further down the hall. When he'd looked into a living room he saw daylight through one of the windows but couldn't see much else for the bushes in front of it. That probably meant Abby had slept through the night and it was now early morning.

When he was done and they went back down towards the basement he felt his anxiety building and building. _This is the moment of truth_, he thought as he went to open the door to the basement. When he only saw the big guy standing in the middle of the basement without Abby he panicked and immediately scanned the room with his eyes. He found her sitting on the blankets in the corner, knees tucked up to her chest and her arms around her knees. He couldn't see her clearly as that corner was slightly darker than the rest of the room but she looked alright.

"We'll be back in a couple of minutes so you guys better get ready for round two!" With a laugh the two guys moved out of the room, leaving them alone again.

"Gibbs!" Abby cried out his name as soon as the door closed and jumped up to move towards him. She went to fly into his arms but seemed to remember his injuries at the last second.

"'m fine Abbs" he said, trying to calm her down.

He moved his arms around her and gave her a reassuring squeeze. She eventually moved her arms carefully around him and he felt her let out a deep breath. When he pulled back he noticed one of her cheeks was bright red.

"Abbs! What happened?"

He could see that she was trying not to cry and she took a deep breath before tiredly muttering

"He hit me Gibbs. I didn't do anything, I swear! I tried to keep as still and quiet as possible Gibbs. But he hit me!"

Her tone was both confused and pleading and he shushed her as she started trembling again and he wrapped his arms around her. There was nothing he could do but hold her and let her try and make sense of the cruelty of men.


	6. Chapter 6

_There was nothing he could do but hold her and let her try and make sense of the cruelty of men._

All too soon they could hear footsteps coming down the stairs again. _Time for round two._

"Remember Abbs, stay back." Gibbs quickly said to her.

She nodded and moved her arms from around him, they both turned towards the door. When the door to the basement opened Gibbs' heart sped up as he saw all three guys walking in. The small guy stopped in the middle of the basement as the bigger two advanced towards them. He was hyper aware of Abby's presence behind him as the biggest guy moved to step around him. He turned to the side and swung his fist full force into the guy's stomach. He doubled over and took a couple of steps backwards.

Quickly turning around Gibbs stepped towards the other guy who'd moved towards Abby but before he could raise his hand someone slammed into his back. Gibbs fell to the floor hard with his attacker on top of him. He paid no attention to the searing pain in his chest and leg and instead tried to roll the guy off of him. They were wrestling on the floor when he heard Abby let out a bloodcurdling scream.

He was momentarily distracted and immediately felt a hard blow to the side of his face which made his head fly to the side. He spat out the blood in his mouth and at the same time tried to kick off his attacker by slamming his good knee into his groin. As he rolled to the side Gibbs quickly got up and swiveled around to where he thought he'd heard Abby's scream.

He found her immediately. One of the bigger guys had an arm around her neck and his other hand was running over her stomach. She had her hands tied behind her back and the side of her face was even redder than before. He made to move towards her when he heard a _click!_ and felt the barrel of a gun against his head once again. He stopped in his tracks but kept his eyes on Abby.

Abby looked at him with worried and scared eyes as he stood stock still, out of breath but ready to strike at any moment. The guy ran his hand up towards her breasts and cupped one of them.

_"__You must understand Gibbs, there's so much more pleasure to be had from a women, especially one like this one here"_

The memory of the threat ran through his head and Gibbs felt physically sick as he could do nothing but stand and watch. If he moved to attack now they could kill her before he'd even have a chance to reach her. Abby started to struggle and the guy pulled her tighter against him. This made her cry out in pain, although Gibbs could not see what had caused it. He balled his fists and his whole body twitched in fury.

"Ah ah ah, I wouldn't do that if I were you" the guy holding the gun to his head said.

He felt his blood boil as the guys hand slowly moved down, away from her breast and towards the top of her grey jeans. If Abby looked scared before, she now looked terrified. He had to get their attention off of Abby. He realized they couldn't actually shoot him, at least not in the head, because Alejandro wanted him alive. That thought made him spin around, slam the gun out of the guys hand and slam his fist into his face.

As he expected the guy he'd fought earlier attacked next. What he didn't expect was for the guy to twist his arms painfully behind his back and choke him with his other arm around his neck. He was going to fight back until he saw the smaller guy with the gun move towards Abby and change positions with the guy that was holding her. He moved one arm around her neck and put the gun against her side with the other.

Gibbs stiffened, this wasn't what he expected. When he saw the grin on the guys face he realized this had been their plan all along. Abby was just meant as leverage. His suspicions were confirmed when the guy spoke. "Fight back and I shoot".

He had no choice now. He saw realization dawn on Abby's face. Her eyes widened and she shook her head vigorously. "Gibbs!"

He knew she was pleading for him to save himself, he could see it in her eyes. _Always thinking of others before herself._ But there was no way he would fight back now. As soon as he relaxed his stance he was thrown forward towards the guy that had held Abby and the fist that collided with his face threw him back towards the ground. He curled in on himself again and tried to block out the pain as a fury of kicks rained down on him. He could hear Abby screaming out his name again and again until unconsciousness claimed him.

When he came to the pain immediately washed over him in full force. He gasped and went into a couching fit. Pain wracked his body with every couch and he felt a soft hand pushing him down and holding him in place. Soon the coughs stopped and he concentrated on slowing his breathing. All the while a gentle hand stroked his hair. He could feel something soft under his head and a warm blanket lying over him. When the worst of the pain had subsided he opened his eyes to see Abby sitting next to him. Her eyes looked puffy and red and he could see a dark blue bruise starting to form on the side of her face.

"I'm so glad you're awake Gibbs" she said softly. "You've been out for hours and I was so afraid you wouldn't wake up. I couldn't move you so I couldn't really get you more comfortable".

He was worried by her soft voice and her defeated tone but he was glad to hear her rambling.

"You've done good Abbs".

With a groan he slowly moved his arm and cupped the side of her face without the bruise. She turned her face into his hand and moved her own hand up to hold his hand in place.

"I was so worried Gibbs". She said, kissing his wrist.

"I know Abbs".

After a deep breath he tried to clear his head, the last thing he remembered was lying on the ground and hearing her screams before he blacked out.

"What happened after I blacked out Abbs?"

"They just let me go and left".

"What about your hands? Did they untie you?"

She shook her head 'no' and tears started to form in her eyes. He looked down at her hands, one was at her side but the other was cradled in her lap. Her wrist was swollen and an angry bruise was forming on and around it. His stomach dropped as he realized what caused the bloodcurdling scream he'd heard from her. Then anger ran through him as he realized they'd tied her wrists when one of them was broken.

He slowly moved to sit up and moved the blanket to the side, his body protesting the whole way. He ignored it and slowly moved one arm around Abby, pulling her softly into his side. Her good hand fisted in his shirt as she buried her face in his neck and cried quietly. He didn't even want to think about the pain she must've gone through as she managed to get her bonds off herself with a broken wrist.

He held her while she cried and realized this was becoming a routine since they'd been captured and he didn't like it one bit. It hurt him to see her upset and he felt completely helpless in the current situation. He was quickly losing strength and with at least three captors the chances of them getting out on their own were close to non-existent.

He thought about his team and wondered if there had been any evidence left at the crash site to go on. He'd taught them well and knew that if anyone could find him and Abby it would be them. They'd know it would have something to do with the Rivera's so they had at least one lead.

Abby shook him out of his thoughts. "I miss them Gibbs. But I'm glad you're with me. I know that's bad because if you weren't here I'd be alone and then you wouldn't be hurt and I don't want you to be hurt but I don't want to be alone either".

"It's okay Abbs, it's not bad that you're glad I'm here. And I don't mind keeping you company".

That earned him a small smile. He kissed her forehead and gave her a small smile of his own. He slowly got up, letting out a soft groan, and moved towards the corner of the room whith the blankets. He found what he was looking for and moved back towards Abby who was looking at him questioningly. He sat down in front of her and, looking her in the eye, moved his hands towards her broken wrist.

"I'll need to have a look at it Abbs and bandage it". She looked slightly scared but nodded, trusting him completely.

He felt around her wrist and let out a sigh in relief. "It's a clean break Abbs, it doesn't need to be set".

He softly held a small, flat piece of wood he'd found in the corner along her wrist and then wrapped a strip of cloth that she hadn't used when she'd wrapped up his torso around it.

"Good job Abbs. Come on, you could use some sleep". He slowly got up again, taking the blankets with him, and she did the same. He grabbed her good hand and led her over to the corner with the rest of the blankets. She put a rolled up blanket down as a pillow and lay down while he sat down with his back against the wall. She turned towards him and tugged on his hand, eyes pleading. He didn't really want to lay down as it's a more vulnerable position. But he couldn't deny her, especially knowing that it would bring her comfort.

With that thought he gently lowered himself down behind her, he tried to get in a spoon position but it hurt too much to lay on his side. Instead he moved onto his back and carefully pulled her into his side. She turned around and gently laid her head and broken wrist on his chest as he pulled a blanket over them.

"Night Gibbs".

"Night Abbs".

He did feel more vulnerable on the floor but he'd underestimated the level of comfort he'd feel by being able to hold Abby in his arms. For the moment she was safe and he'd stay awake and guard her until she woke.


	7. Chapter 7

_He did feel more vulnerable on the floor but he'd underestimated the level of comfort he'd feel by being able to hold Abby in his arms. For the moment she was safe and he'd stay awake and guard her until she woke._

When Abby woke hours later she shivered at the contrasting warmth of Gibbs' hold on her and the cold air around them. When she looked up Gibbs' eyes were closed and she slowly pulled back the collar of his shirts to peek at his chest and try and see how the bruising was. From her position it looked like his whole torso was one big bruise. When she looked back up at his face she found his piercing blue eyes looking back at her. She should've known he wasn't asleep.

"You okay there Abbs?" He asked in a teasing voice.

"Just having a quick peek". She teased back with a grin.

It felt good to smile, even if it was only for a little bit. She looked down at her broken wrist and her expression turned somber. She extracted herself from his arms and immediately the cold air enveloped her. She shivered again as she moved into a sitting position and pulled a blanket towards her. She began tearing it in strips like she had done the day before. _Or was it two days ago?_ They had no idea how long they'd been trapped down here.

"I'll wrap your chest again Gibbs, it looks like it's one big bruise now".

Slowly, with some groaning and puffing on Gibbs' side, they managed to get his jacket off and his shirts over his head. As Abby slowly, one handedly, unwound the bandages a pained look appeared on her face. Gibbs chose to study her instead of looking down at himself.

"God, Gibbs. I've never seen anyone this bruised".

He wisely kept his mouth shut, she didn't need to know that it was hardly his first time. He'd been captured and tortured before, but never with someone he cared about as much as Abby. The pain of seeing her go through this was much worse than the physical pain he was feeling. He didn't tell her that though, she'd only feel worse if he did.

She prodded his chest softly, feeling for any broken ribs or possible internal injuries.

"I'm pretty sure your bandage saved me Abbs. No broken bones and my stomach only feels bruised".

She swallowed and nodded before instructing him to keep his hand on one end of the bandage as she used her good hand to clumsily wrap the strip of cloth firmly around his torso. She wrapped it all the way from his jeans till just under his arms. After she made sure it was secure she grabbed his undershirt to help him back into it.

"You put it on Abbs, you need it more than I do." She started to protest. "Besides, it'd be too tight over the bandages".

It was a lame excuse as they both knew that it would only help his ribs but she knew he'd made up his mind. When he grabbed it from her she took off her jacket as he held the shirt so she could carefully put her broken wrist through one sleeve and then put her other arm through the other sleeve. He helped lower the shirt over her head and then repeated the process with her jacket. She immediately felt warmer and realized he must be cold as he still wasn't wearing a shirt.

Together they pulled his polo over his head and put his jacket back on. "Aren't you cold Gibbs?"

"Nah, I'm fine Abbs". He said, leaning forward and kissing the side of her head.

"How are you feeling, did you sleep well?"

She looked at his face, he looked exhausted. "Did you?"

He looked at her warningly, silently telling her not to go there. However, he could see the determination on her face and knew this was a discussion he was going to lose. He also knew that he did need to sleep at some point.

"You're not invincible Gibbs, even you need to sleep!"

He sighed, knowing she was right.

"Only if you're feeling okay Abbs, you'll need to keep watch as I sleep".

He'd never doubted his instincts before, he'd never been afraid to fall asleep because he knew he'd be up in a heartbeat if there was some sort of attack. But now, for the first time, he didn't trust himself to wake up and be able to defend her in time.

"I feel fine Gibbs, I'll stay awake and wake you up immediately if anything happens".

She moved to sit comfortably against the wall and patted her lap. He lowered himself back to the floor and positioned his head in her lap. He fell asleep to the feeling of her playing with his hair.

It was only a short while later when he suddenly opened his eyes and moved to sit up, scaring Abby who'd been staring off into space. "Gibbs what is it?"

"Shhh… they're coming"

They both stayed completely silent, listening for any sounds coming from upstairs. All was quiet but his gut told him they would come down any moment. Abby had long since learned to trust his gut and didn't question him. They both got up and leaned against the wall as they heard footsteps coming down the stairs.

The door opened and the two big guys walked in.

"Time for another toilet break". The biggest guy said.

"Take him first Mark" he said, mentioning for the other guy to take Gibbs.

Mark walked up to Gibbs and pointed a gun at him, mentioning for him to move towards the door. He shared a look with Abby before walking up to stairs towards the toilet. By the time he and Mark got back he was panting from the exertion. As soon as he opened the door his eyes found Abby. She looked terrified and his heart sped up. It didn't look to him like she was hurt so the big guy must've said something to scare her. He gave her a reassuring look as the guy grabbed her arm and led her towards the door. Mark kept his gun on Gibbs until Abby was out the door and then followed.

Gibbs took deep breaths, trying to calm himself after the door closed. They left him alone because they didn't need to threaten him to keep Abby in check. She was brought back in the same condition she'd been in before when they took her last time but there was no saying what was going to happen now. He was terrified they'd up their game and hurt her while she was away. Their captors were clever, they hadn't been hurt that bad yet but they had played mind games on them.

He stayed in the same spot, focusing on his breathing until the door opened again and Mark and the big guy walked in, without Abby. He felt fear run through him but carefully schooled his face into a neutral expression. Mark stepped towards him and swung his first towards the side of his face, he blocked the hit and went to hit him in the face. Mark moved to the side and punched him in the stomach. His breath left him and he hunched over slightly at the hit as pain flared through his bruised chest.

Before he could catch his breath and stand back up straight someone grabbed his shoulders, pulled him down and slammed their knee into his face. He felt his nose break with a sickening crunch, he ignored the urge to move his hand up to his nose and instead slammed it into Mark's face in front of him. He hit his mark but missed the big guy moving up beside him. He slammed his foot into Gibbs' leg and he let out a scream of pain as he felt his right tibia break. He tried to keep his balance and not pass out from the pain but fell down when he received another blow to his stomach.

Both men moved towards him as he lay on the floor and each grabbed one of his arms and hauled him to the middle of the room. Gibbs gritted his teeth and tried not to cry out at the pain as his legs scraped over the floor behind them. They sat him down on a chair and bound his hands to the back of the chair, leaving his legs free this time. Then they slammed the door behind them as they ascended the stairs.

Gibbs took deep breaths through his mouth, he'd broken his nose multiple times before and it wasn't as painful as it was annoying. The pain in his leg however was excruciating, he had to force himself to not pass out. He had a feeling they'd bring Abby down soon and continue their sick game.

His prediction came true in a matter of minutes. He heard four pair of footsteps coming down the stairs and the three guys and Abby came through the door. Abby was struggling violently and pulled herself free as soon as she saw him.

"Gibbs!" She ran over to him and he could hear laughter from the guys as she called his name.

"Oh my god Gibbs" she said in a panicked tone as she looked at his nose.

Then her eyes raked over his body and her face paled as she saw his leg. His foot lay at an odd angle and there was a blood was beginning to stain his pants leg where the skin on his broken leg had obviously broken as well. Gibbs wanted to reassure her and tell her to get ready for what was going to happen. But he was very aware of their capturers perverted pleasure as they watched Abby and him. He knew they were well aware of the close bond between the two of them but he didn't want to give them any more information. He cursed softly as he debated what to do, he couldn't sign to her either with his hands tied back. She noticed his conflicted look.

"Gibbs? What is it?" she whispered, throwing a quick glance over her back to see if the guys had moved.

"I need you to stay strong for me" he told her in a steady voice, trying to show confidence and calm.

She looked even more scared after his order as it showed the direness of the situation. She nodded and he watched as her terrified expression changed into a determined one.

"Enough chattering, Alejandro and Paloma are coming tomorrow so we don't have to keep you two alive much longer, right Sean?" He heard Mark say.

The smallest guy, Sean, nodded.

"Now you both behave or there will be consequences" Sean said with a grin.

Gibbs' felt Abby's anxiety rise next to him and knew she too realized that this could be it. They could be tortured until they were close to death because they only had to stay alive for another half a day or so. He looked back at Abby's terrified eyes as their captors came towards them and wished he could give her some reassurance. She quickly bent down to kiss him on the cheek and he whispered "Love you Abbs" into her ear just before she was pulled away from him.

Mark dragged her backwards by her hair and she cried out. She turned around in his grip and brought her knee up into his groin. He yelled out in pain and released her. When she turned back to Gibbs she saw the big guys fist fly into the side of his face so hard that the chair wobbled and then fell to the floor with a loud bang. Gibbs let out a yell as the fall jarred his broken leg.

"I told you two there would be consequences if you didn't behave, this is all your fault" Sean said, looking at Abby.

Tears formed in her eyes as she stiffened and saw how the big guy pulled the chair and Gibbs back upright again. She locked eyes with Gibbs and cried silently as she kept still when Mark came up behind her and started to run his hands over her body. She blinked away the tears when her vision blurred, staring into Gibbs' eyes as if they were here lifeline.

Gibbs stared right back into her eyes, trying to give her strength as the bastard touched her. It took all his effort to not react to what was happening in front of him. He knew they were in more danger now than they had before and did not want to risk her getting hurt because of him. He felt cold wash over him and goose bumps appear as the reality of the situation sunk in. They were going to rape her. And if he did anything they would probably kill her. There was only one solution, she had to fight to protect herself, they'd hopefully turn on him and leave her.

Sean and the big guy were standing slightly behind him, watching Abby and Mark, they wouldn't be able to see his mouth move. Mark was completely focused on Abby's body and wouldn't notice either.

_Fight!_ He mouthed at her, hoping she'd be able to read his lips through the tears now streaming down her face. He mouthed it a couple of times until he saw a slight hint of realization on her face. She frowned and moved her head to the side a tiny bit, enough for him to get the message. She wasn't willing to cause him any more pain either. He mouthed it again, letting the urgency show on his face. He knew she'd seen it but she didn't show it.

She let out a sob as Mark's hands found her belt and unbuckled it before undoing the button on her jeans. Gibbs felt tears forming in his own eyes as he saw her slowly falling apart. He had never felt so helpless and desperate in his life. He wanted to cry out in anguish as Mark flung her to the ground, she let out a short scream as she fell to the ground and hit her head. Mark got on top of her and started to kiss her while fondling her breasts with his hands. She didn't fight him but didn't kiss him back either.

Gibbs felt sicker by the minute as he had to watch all this. She didn't deserve this, no one deserved this. He had to try one last thing, he just prayed she wouldn't be punished.

"Please don't do this! Do anything you want to me, just don't hurt her!"

The room was silent for a moment and Gibbs waited with bated breath.

"Continue Mark" Gibbs heard Sean say from behind him.

At that Mark ripped open Gibbs' undershirt that Abby was wearing and her own top, leaving her in just her bra with the ripped shirts lying at her sides. Gibbs gritted his teeth and averted his eyes. When he heard her softly calling his name he moved his eyes until he found hers. They kept eye contact as Mark moved down her body. He could see she was gritting her teeth and when he looked at her hand at her side he could see her first shaking. She was stopping herself from fighting back.

Mark had reached the top of her pants and Gibbs could see him pull them most of the way down her legs, leaving her in her panties and bra. When he saw Mark moving towards her panties he quickly looked back up towards Abby's eyes, mouthing at her again to fight with even more urgency than before. He begged her with his eyes to help herself and when he saw Mark move to pull down her panties something in her finally snapped.

She sat up quickly, at the same time bringing up her fist to punch him in the face as hard as she could. He screamed out as his nose broke and she brought up her knee quickly, smashing it into his groin before pushing him off of her. Gibbs felt apprehension and pride fill him, whatever happened now he was proud of what she'd done.

He saw Sean move towards him with the gun from the corner of his eye. Time seemed to slow down as he saw Abby pull up her pants and look at Sean with fear in her eyes before moving towards him. From his other side the big guy appeared and moved towards Abby. Sean moved in front of him and looked at him with his trademark grin in place before pointing his gun at Gibbs. Weirdly enough he didn't feel any fear as he saw Sean pull the trigger and he heard Abby's scream of "GIBBS!"

Then time seemed to speed up again as he slowly registered pain flaring up in his left shoulder. He looked down and found that blood was quickly starting to soak into his shirt and jacket.

"Gibbs!" He could hear Abby screaming and sobbing out his name and when he looked up he saw her fighting the big guys grip as he held her back.

"We'll be back in the morning for the last round before we hand you over to the Rivera's".

Sean said before walking out of the basement followed by Mark. When they were out the door the big guy finally let go of Abby and followed them, closing the door behind him. As soon as she was free Abby ran towards Gibbs, putting pressure on the gunshot wound.

"Oh my god Gibbs! I'm so sorry Gibbs I shouldn't have fought him, this is all my fault!" she sobbed.

"No Abbs, this is NOT your fault" he said looking her in the eye, making sure she was paying attention.

"But you got shot Gibbs! You could die if you don't get to a hospital soon!" she sounded hysterical.

"Abbs, breathe. It was my choice, I told you to fight back and I'm very proud of you." He said firmly.

She let out a loud sob and put more pressure on the wound as blood continued to seep through her hand. She took her hand off of the wound and quickly took of her jacket and the two ripped shirts before putting her jacket back on and pushing the shirts up against his wound. Gibbs was beginning to get lightheaded and it got harder and harder to stay conscious.

"Abbs, I'm going to pass out in a bit, you need to untie me so I can lay down".

She put the two already reddening shirts in his lap and quickly moved to untie his bonds. It took her longer than it normally would with only one hand and she kept slipping on the bonds as her hands were shaking and bloody. When they finally came undone she put the rags back up against the wound and pushed Gibbs' right hand on them to indicate for him to keep them in place. She quickly went towards the corner where the blankets lay and brought them over to the chair, lying them down next to it to make a bed. She helped him off the chair and lowered him down gently towards the floor and onto his back.

As Gibbs lay down he immediately felt the pressure of Abby's hand on his shoulder again. He was starting to get drowsy and knew it wouldn't be long before he passed out from exhaustion, pain and blood loss. He could hear Abby muttering frantically to herself and panic spread through him. She'd just almost been raped and saw him get shot, she was clearly in shock and he was going to pass out.

He didn't want to leave her alone with her thoughts, watching him slowly bleed out. But there was nothing he could do. He tried to speak to her but no sound came out of his mouth. His limbs felt really heavy and it was with great effort that he managed to move his hand to her knee and softly squeeze, trying to comfort her. She looked down at him when she felt him softly squeeze her knee and watched his eyes close as consciousness finally claimed him.


	8. Chapter 8

Thank you all for staying with me on this story, and as I said before, I will finish it! I'm just going through a crazy busy couple of weeks. I haven't got a lot of time to write, nor inspiration. So if you guys have any suggestions about the story please share them with me. I'm sorry this chapter is so short but I thought it better to give you guys a short one now than to wait until I have time to finish a longer chapter. Besides, this gives you guys a bigger chance to give me some input for the story because I don't expect it to go on for long after this. And don't worry, both Abby and Gibbs will come out of this alive.

Enjoy!

_His limbs felt really heavy and it was with great effort that he managed to move his hand to her knee and softly squeeze, trying to comfort her. She looked down at him when she felt him softly squeeze her knee and watched his eyes close as unconsciousness finally claimed him. _

Gibbs let out a soft groan as he regained consciousness, immediately feeling pain wash over him. His whole body ached. There was a throbbing pain in his leg and he felt bruised all over. But most of all he felt the sharp pain and pressure on his gunshot wound. His felt wet from sweat and blood where it had drenched his shirt and pants.

He opened his eyes to find Abby sitting next to him, keeping pressure on his wound with her uninjured hand and staring off into space. She was shaking and it was obvious she'd been crying. He felt his heart ached for her. Her jacket was hanging open and he could see the goose bumps on her stomach as she was only wearing her bra underneath. She didn't seem to be aware of anything and hadn't noticed that he'd woken up. _She must be in shock_, he thought.

Slowly he moved his right arm towards her, softly holding her trembling chin and turning it towards him. She jumped slightly and it took a moment before her eyes focused on him, widening when they did.

"Gibbs" she gasped. "You're awake".

He cleared his throat. "Hi Abbs" he said in a soft, raspy voice.

Speaking jarred his chest and he was careful to keep the pain from showing on his face. He cupped her cheek and rubbed his thumb back and forth as she leaned her head into his hand. He looked deep into her eyes, trying to decipher her thoughts.

"You okay Abbs?" he asked softly.

The way he said it and the caring look on his face was almost too much for her but she managed to keep in the tears. She shrugged her shoulders and looked down, unconsciously wrapping her uninjured arm around herself. This worried him, she had been through a lot the last couple of days, enough to make most people fall apart. She was feeling numb and didn't notice how cold she was, he'd have to take care of her. He removed his hand from her cold cheek.

"Do you think you can help me up Abbs?" She looked at him questioningly.

"Let's move over there so I can sit up" he said pointing to the corner with the blankets.

"Okay".

She helped him up and they both wobbled slightly. He realized he was actually really thirsty and besides some water from the tap in the toilet they hadn't had anything to drink or eat. The lack of food and loss of blood made him lightheaded. _As if having one leg to stand on isn't hard enough already, _he thought. He had to lean most of his weight on Abby as they slowly made their way to the corner. He had to grit his teeth to not cry out in pain at every hop he took.

They carefully lowered down against the wall in the corner, Abby immediately put pressure on his shoulder again. Gibbs grit his teeth as he repositioned his broken leg on the floor, the pain that flared through it was excruciating. They were quiet for a couple of minutes as Gibbs took deep breaths through the waves of pain washing over him. He was aware of Abby observing him with a worried look on her face. When the worst of the pain had passed he turned to Abby and grabbed the front of her jacket, slowly buttoning it up. He then grabbed a blanket and draped it over her shoulders.

"You need to keep warm Abbs". He said softly.

The care and love in his actions was too much for Abby and she softly began to cry. Gibbs wrapped an arm around her and pulled her into his side. She weakly resisted. "Gibbs you're injured". Suddenly the thought that she might not want to be touched popped into his head. However he dismissed it as soon as it came, this was Abby, she needed physical contact and she'd never be scared of him.

He gave her a reassuring look and carefully tucked her head under his chin while he stroked her hair with his right hand. She finally gave in with a sniff and snuggled into his jacket. After a couple of minutes she stopped crying and the shaking was getting less and less. She was quiet and he knew there was something on her mind, he waited patiently, knowing she'd tell him when she was ready.

"I'm sorry Gibbs." She finally said. He should've known she'd still blame herself.

"Nothing to be sorry for Abbs, I told you I'm proud of you and I don't blame you one bit."

He took a deep breath before continuing and she waited for him to speak even though she wanted to protest.

"If they'd gone through with it Abbs" he said slowly and then paused, both shivering at the thought.

"I'd never have been able to forgive myself. No one should ever have to go through that and I'll gladly take another bullet if it means you'll be safe."

He could see new tears appearing in her eyes at his confession and he softly kissed her forehead.

"We'll get through this together" She told him in a strong, confident voice.

He let a proud smile come to his lips and raised his hand to sign "_My Girl"_.

She gave him a watery smile and then snuggled back into him. They were quiet as both were lost in thought. After a couple of minutes Gibbs moved his arm from around Abby to lift her hand and see his gunshot wound. It was still bleeding but not much. _Thank god it didn't hit an artery_, Gibbs thought. He'd seen soldiers bleed out from a simple gunshot to the shoulder. He knew he'd be alright for now, he'd survive until the Rivera's showed up. After that it didn't really matter, they'd surely kill him this time. He thought about Abby, laying in his arms, and what it would do to her. It would be too much, he couldn't bare the thought of her having to see that. He thought about the team again, praying they'd find them in time. He looked down at Abby, she'd been so strong and brave the last couple of days. Hell, she'd been strong the last couple of months. He didn't know what he'd have done without her. She looked up at him, sensing his eyes on her.

"What are you thinking?"

"How strong and amazing you are".

She raised her eyebrows questioningly.

"I don't know how I'd have gotten through the last couple of months without you" he confessed.

"Awww Gibbs! That's what you've got me for!" she said and for a moment she sounded so much like her old self that he couldn't keep in a soft snicker.

She looked proud of herself for making him laugh and beamed up at him before letting out a big yawn.

"I think it's time for bed Abbs."

She pouted at him but he could see the slight fear that she was trying to hide.

"'m not going anywhere, I'll be right here when you wake up". She chewed her bottom lip in doubt.

"Promise you'll wake me up when you need me? And if you begin to feel any worse!"

He moved towards her hair to give her a kiss but she pulled back, looking at him with a stern expression.

"Promise me Gibbs".

"I promise" he said in an exasperated voice.

She looked satisfied and tilted her head so he could kiss her cheek. Then she settled back into his side and let out a sigh.

He pulled her tight against him as her breathing evened out. The pain in his shoulder was getting worse and he felt his nervousness increasing, not for himself but for Abby. Tomorrow morning would be the last round and the Rivera's would come afterwards. He looked down at Abby, once again wondering how all of this would play out. Whatever happened, it wouldn't be pretty. His heart ached for her, the pain she was going through seeing him being tortured. He knew damn well that seeing a friend being tortured was far worse than being in that position yourself. He could only hope the team would find them before it was too late.


	9. Chapter 9

I didn't expect to finish a new chapter this soon, but I guess I got some new inspiration. I'm happy with how it turned out until the part where they are rescued, for some reason I found that really hard to write. Anyway, I hope you guys like it, it's pretty intense.

First I thought I'd end it when they'd be rescued but I now plan on writing a chapter or maybe a couple of chapters about the recovery period. So again; I'd really appreciate your suggestions and input!

_Tomorrow morning would be the last round and the Rivera's would come afterwards. He looked down at Abby, once again wondering how all of this would play out. Whatever happened, it wouldn't be pretty. His heart ached for her, the pain she was going through seeing him being tortured. He knew damn well that seeing a friend being tortured was far worse than being in that position yourself. He could only hope the team would find them before it was too late. _

Gibbs guarded her during the night while he felt the tension and fear slowly rising. He worked on keeping his breathing steady and gathered his remaining strength in preparation of what was to come, letting his marine training take over. He pushed the pain and fear to the back of his mind and felt his head slowly clearing, only a dull throb remaining.

Abby had been restless during the night, obviously experiencing nightmares. Whenever she would start mumbling and moving around he would hold her tighter and stroke her hair until she calmed down. It was early morning when he felt her getting restless again. This time she tensed up when he held her closer and he slowly loosened his grip on her while he tried talking to her in a soothing voice. She started struggling to get out of his grip while muttering "No! No please!" over and over again.

"Abbs! Wake up!" Gibbs finally said firmly.

She gasped as she woke up, breathing heavily. She stayed in the same position, facing away from him and both were quiet for several minutes as she concentrated on slowing her breathing. It was obvious what her nightmare was about and it hurt Gibbs that he wasn't able to protect her from the horrible memories. When Abby got to her knees and turned to face him she had what seemed like a forced calm expression on her face and she somehow looked older. Gibbs slowly moved his hand to cup her face, giving her enough time to pull back if she'd want to. The hesitant look that briefly appeared on her face hurt him more then he thought possible. He stopped moving, waiting for her to make the next move, sensing that this was an important moment. He kept breathing slowly and deeply as he tried to get her to make eye contact, silently asking her to trust him when she did.

They stared at each other for what felt like an eternity but was actually only several seconds. In those moments they seemed like two strangers, until Abby finally gave in, her face now more like that of a frightened little girl as she grabbed Gibbs' hand and held it against her cheek. Tears pooled in her eyes and he moved towards her to kiss her forehead. The moment his lips touched her forehead she finally relaxed and let the tears flow. He gathered her against his chest again, moving slowly all the while and wiped the tears away with his thumb.

This was it, Gibbs realized, she'd reached her breaking point. He felt his already fierce protectiveness over her grow immensely. He knew that if anything more happened to her now it would be too much for her to handle. He felt fear and helplessness overcome him as he realized that they'd come to hurt them again and this time there was even less chance of him being able to protect her than there was before.

Abby noticed the change in atmosphere and moved away a bit so she could look Gibbs in the eye. He could see her tears had dried but she had a lost and vulnerable expression on her face. She sensed his nervousness and fear and grabbed his hand.

"I trust you Gibbs" she said in a sincere, but shaky voice.

This made him feel proud and desperate at the same time. They looked at each other for several minutes, trying to calm the nerves. Suddenly there was a loud bang from upstairs and footsteps came thundering down the stairs. Gibbs could see the sheer panic in Abby's eyes and felt his own fear and panic rising as the door flew open, hitting the wall. All three of the guys stormed in, before he could react Abby screamed as she was violently pulled off of him by her hair. Before she was fully off of him Gibbs could feel strong hands grabbing his jacket and pulling him up as well. He yelled out as pain went through his shoulder and again as he was set on his feet, his broken leg immediately giving out. Through Abby's hysterical cries he could hear Sean screaming;

"Bind and gag them and take them out back! NOW!" before he stormed up the stairs and out of sight.

Something had gone wrong with the operation. Gibbs looked around for Abby and saw her just as Mark pulled her hands behind her back roughly, before binding them. She let out an ear-piercing scream at the pain this caused her broken wrist.

Gibbs lost it.

"You fucking bastards!" he screamed while using al his remaining strength to lash out at the guy holding him.

The guy managed to pull his hands behind his back with such force that Gibbs felt his right shoulder dislocate with a loud _POP!_ He let out a loud yell as his hands were immediately bound and a gag was then placed in his mouth.

Gibbs could only hear the blood pumping loudly in his ears, he tried to clear his vision through the pain in his head and found Abby. She too had been gagged but was still screaming and sobbing through her gag. They started pulling them towards the door, Abby was pushed through first, still kicking and screaming although the sound was muffled by the gag. The big guy holding Gibbs seemed to realize there was no way Gibbs would be able to walk on his own and bent down to put him over his shoulder. Gibbs grunted in pain as this jolted his whole body and put a lot of pressure on his bruised stomach and midriff. The guy practically ran up the stairs with Gibbs and they went through the hall into an alleyway behind the house where there was a black van waiting. It was light outside and the bright sunlight hurt his eyes as he had been in the semidark for several days.

Gibbs was thrown into the back of the van, letting out a muffled scream of pain as he landed next to Abby. The doors were slammed shut, leaving them in the dark. All was silent for a moment, except for their heavy breathing. Then all of a sudden the engine of the van started and there were screams coming from outside. Several gunshots rang out, followed by more screams and footsteps of people running around.

Gibbs could feel Abby shaking next to him, sobbing into the gag and trying to move as closely against him as possible. He moved slightly over her, trying to shield her from whatever would come. Suddenly the doors were pulled open again and they were blinded by the morning light streaming in.

"They're in here! We need an ambulance!" someone yelled.

Gibbs squinted, trying to see anything through the bright sunlight and he could make out Tony running towards them as another agent stood by the doors. He jumped into the back of the van and moved to pull of Gibbs' gag.

"I'm so glad we found you two!" he said in a tense but also relieved voice.

Once he got Gibbs' gag of he moved to take of Abby's. He didn't notice her flinch and pull back slightly but Gibbs did. As Tony moved to undo Abby's bonds Gibbs spoke up.

"DiNozzo, untie me first."

Tony looked at him questioningly and they shared a look. Tony moved back towards Gibbs and undid his bonds while he kept a close eye on Abby, noticing her shaking and her terrified eyes moving around rapidly, taking everything in. It was a blur of people outside, running around, giving and receiving orders. As Gibbs' bonds fell away McGee came running up to them.

"The ambulance is on it's way! I'm so glad to see you guys, are you okay?" he panted.

Gibbs knew that by now Tony must've noticed something was wrong with Abby and he gave him a look.

"Good job McGee" Tony said "go make sure they come into the alley and call Ducky to tell him we've found them".

McGee looked confused for a moment but after a quick glance at Abby and Gibbs a worried expression appeared on his face and he hurried away to call Ducky.

Tony gave Gibbs another look and Gibbs nodded. Tony got out of the van again, closing one of the doors and shooing the other agent away. With Tony just outside the doors and everyone else gone Gibbs focused on Abby. She had her eyes tightly shut and was shaking badly, curled into a fetal position.

"Abbs, look at me" he said softly.

She shook her head and curled tighter into herself.

"It's just you and me Abbs, the rest is gone. You can do it Abbs, it's okay" he said soothingly.

He knew Tony would be able to hear what they were saying but he didn't mind and he knew Abby wouldn't really either. She slowly opened her eyes and found his. He slowly lifted his hand to sign _"my girl". _

"I'll help you turn around so I can untie you".

She turned onto her front and he softly pulled on her shoulder furthest away from him to turn her on her side, facing away from him. He swallowed as he saw her swollen and bruised wrist. There was no way he'd get the bonds of without hurting her further. He put a comforting hand on her shoulder as he called out for DiNozzo. He stuck his head inside the van.

"Yes boss?"

"Get me something to cut away the bonds."

He was back a minute later with one of Ziva's sharp knives.

"I couldn't find any scissors or cutters" he said apologetically, knowing the movements of the knife over the bonds would hurt more, before moving back out of the van.

Gibbs cut away the bonds as carefully as possible and made a mental note to praise Ziva for always keeping her knives in the best possible condition. Abby let out a soft whimper as the bonds fell away and turned on her back before cradling her broken wrist to her chest. Gibbs felt his heart ache as she lay there with tear tracks on her face, hair a mess and cradling her broken wrist. He moved the hair out of her face with his hand and wiped the last tears from her cheeks with his thumb.

"Soon the paramedics will be here Abbs" immediately she tensed up, her breathing speeding up.

"Shh Abbs, we're safe now, and I won't let anything happen to you."

He saw her try and get a bit more composed, taking deep breaths.

"I'm scared Gibbs" she said in a trembling voice. "I'm scared of other people. I know it's stupid Gibbs but It's too much."

"It's NOT stupid Abbs" he said in a strong but soothing voice.

"None of this is your fault and you won't be scared forever, it will get better."

She seemed to be processing his words and although she still looked scared her breathing calmed a little bit. She looked up at him, a bit calmer and breathing deeply.

"Good job Abbs" he said giving her a soft kiss on her forehead.

"Now I will stay with you the whole time but the paramedics will have to have a look at you. Would you prefer to have a female paramedic take care of you?"

She thought about his question, furrowing her brows before letting out a soft "yes".

Gibbs heard DiNozzo walking off and knew he'd take care of it. After only about a minute he heard footsteps coming towards the van and DiNozzo popped his head in again.

"The paramedics are here" he said before slowly opening the second door so they'd have enough space to move around.

Abby quickly sat up as two female paramedics got into the van, grabbing Gibbs' hand in a death grip. One of the women moved towards them, she had a soft voice and calming presence.

"Hello, I'm Amy and this is Eva" she said, introducing them before moving over towards Gibbs' shoulder.

"Gunshot wound to the left shoulder, get me some scissors" she said to another paramedic standing outside the van.

"Better get the gurney here too" Tony said as he motioned towards Gibbs' broken leg.

"Are there any injuries besides the broken leg, nose and gunshot wound?" Eva asked.

Gibbs hissed out in pain as Amy put pressure on his gunshot wound before saying "She has a broken wrist, it was a clean break but her hands have been bound several times since then."

Abby squeezed his hand tighter and he could see Tony's face tense after hearing this. Eva moved towards Abby.

"What's your name?" she asked as she lowered herself down beside her.

Abby looked up at her with scared eyes, slowly starting to shake. Gibbs gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

"Abby" she said in a shaking voice.

"Right Abby, I'll need to have a look at your wrist. Do either of you have any other injuries?" She said, obviously trying to get Abby's to talk as she gently laid a hand on her shoulder to calm her. Abby jumped slightly at the touch, her breathing speeding up. She took a couple of deep breaths, still holding onto Gibbs' hand, before she started talking.

"We both hit our head several times, Gibbs' chest is all bruised, he has at least several bruised ribs and we haven't had anything to eat or drink for several days."

She took another deep breath and Gibbs' was relieved to hear her voice get a bit steadier as she spoke. His own breathing got more and more labored as the adrenalin wore off and he felt more and more pain washing over him.

A paramedic arrived with scissors and Amy started cutting through his shirt and jacket to get it off of him before cutting away the pants leg from his broken leg. Abby and Tony winced as they saw Gibbs' leg, part of the broken bone had broken through the skin and it was one big mess of skin and blood. As he saw his leg more pain washed over Gibbs, as if seeing it reminded his body of the pain it was really in. He found it harder and harder to concentrate on Abby next to him and suddenly dizziness overtook him. Amy noticed and helped him to lay back before shining a light in his eyes to check for a concussion

"Gibbs?!"

He heard Abby's voice from next to him and turned to look at her worried face.

"I'm okay Abbs, just dizzy."

Several paramedics arrived with a gurney, putting it down and preparing to get him on it.

"You've got a moderate concussion. I'll give you some morphine against the pain" Amy said before preparing a needle to inject him with.

Gibbs grabbed her arm firmly.

"Only a little" he said in a voice that didn't leave any room for discussion.

He needed to stay awake and lucid enough that he'd be able to talk to Abby and help her if she'd need him. Amy nodded, not surprised, before injecting him. Then she motioned for two of the paramedics to put him on the gurney. He felt Abby's hand, still in his, starting to shake again as the paramedics moved into the van, helping him up. He looked over to her and saw she had a sling around her neck where she had her arm with the broken wrist in. Her eyes begged him for help as they were now surrounded by more people.

"It's alright Abbs, just breathe. Come here."

She got closer to the gurney, carefully avoiding the paramedics before standing next to Gibbs' shoulder.

"You can ride with him in the ambulance if you want Abby" Eva said gently.

Abby nodded and with that they strapped Gibbs to the gurney and pulled it up, moving towards the ambulance. Tony moved to walk on the other side of Gibbs.

"Boss, we've taken two of them into custody, the other one's dead. I'm staying here with McGee but I'm sending Ziva to the hospital with you, Ducky will meet you there."

"Which one's dead?" Gibbs asked.

"Scrawny guy with black hair"

Gibbs and Abby both took a deep breath at the revelation. Sean was dead, somewhere they'd both hoped it'd been Mark.

"That's Sean, the leader of the group. He said the Rivera's were supposed to come for us anytime now, but they'll surely know about what's happened." Gibbs said.

Tony nodded and looked over at Abby.

"Hey Abbs" he said gently. She looked up at him nervously.

"Look after him for me, will you? Just make sure he doesn't do anything stupid before I get there."

She gave him a small smile and he winked at her before giving Gibbs one last look and walking away. They arrived at the ambulance and Abby had to let go of Gibbs' hand so they could lift the gurney into the back. Gibbs could see she was terrified of letting go of his hand, like that was the only thing keeping her up. However there was nothing he could do and he was glad to see Eva lay a hand on Abby's shoulder, gently speaking to her until the gurney was secure in the back of the ambulance and Abby could climb in too. She nervously moved past the paramedics, who tried to give her space, to the back of the ambulance before sitting down next to Gibbs and holding his hand again. He lifted their hands to clumsily sign _"Focus on me" _as the paramedics started moving around to work on him. Abby nodded, keeping eye contact with him as the doors of the ambulance closed.


End file.
